The Tupolev ANT-20 was a mammoth eight engine flying marvel, the largest aeroplane of its day, it was built as a flying propaganda machine. The ‘Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky’ was constructed to spread the communist message to the furthest reaches of the Soviet Union.
Why was the ANT-20 Built?
The Tupolev ANT-20 was conceived in 1932 and later built for three main reasons; the Soviet hierarchy wanted something befitting the 40th anniversary of Maxim Gorky, a giant of the communist world.
It also wanted an aeroplane that would be able to head its propaganda division travelling around the relatively young Soviet Union telling the population how communism would benefit their lives.
The final reason was to show the world the engineering prowess of the Soviet Union. As with many projects at the time, biggest, largest, and heaviest was considered the best.
The Maxim Gorky Agit-Squadron
The people of the Soviet Union had just lived through a bloody civil war, so it was decided that to bring the nation together, Lenin’s speeches and the Communist Party’s manifesto should be heard not just in Moscow and Leningrad, but around the country. Radio was considered a luxury, TV was not an option and Google and Twitter were something from the pages of a science fiction movie (if conceivable at all!).
How then would Stalin get his Bolshevik message to the masses? The answer was simple; firstly, trains and ships began to spread the word, but the more remote regions required a something more versatile.
In 1932, Mikhail Koltsov (one of the Soviet Union’s most famed journalists) recommended to Stalin that the Soviet Union design and build a plane to lead its newly formed Maxim Gorky propaganda division. It is said that Mikhail had asked for something big to represent the Soviet Union’s greatness.
Andrei Tupolev, the Soviet Union’s leading aeronautical engineer, was called in, and the Tupolev ANT-20 was brought to life.
Andrei borrowed heavily from the German engineer Hugo Junkers utilising the German engineer’s all-metal aircraft design techniques and possibly taking a lead from Junker’s G.38 aircraft. And so, the outer skin of the aircraft was primarily lined with corrugated sheet metal.
Construction began on the 4th of July 1933 and was finished on April 3rd 1934. On its completion, the ‘ANT-20 Maxim Gorky’ was massive. An 8-engine, 80-passenger flying marvel, it had a 63-metre wingspan (not far shy of a modern Boeing 747) and weighed just over 42,000 kg.
Six of the engines were mounted on the wing’s leading edge whilst the other two were housed in a pusher-puller pod atop the plane’s fuselage. The aeroplanes massive wheels were housed in impressive wheel spats, the largest ever fitted to an aircraft. The aircraft was crewed by 23; 10 aircrew and 13 propagandists.
Features of the Tupolev ANT-20
As the Maxim Gorky’s primary role was to fly around the Soviet Union heading the countries Propaganda squadron, it was kitted out with some unique features.
- Known as the ‘Voice of the Sky’, it was equipped with a powerful radio set that would broadcast messages that could be heard from the ground.
- It incorporated a complete printing press so that Soviet literature could be printed and handed out at its various ports of call or thrown from the sky.
- A library was located onboard, allowing visitors to soak up the various works of the many communist authors while the plane sat on the tarmac.
- A film projector allowed guests to catch up on the newsreels of the day, films, and the latest propaganda. This was quite an essential feature as many smaller towns in the countryside may well have never seen a movie before a visit from the aircraft.
- The Maxim Gorky was equipped with the latest radio broadcasting equipment, which allowed the team to broadcast live to the nation—having four separate channels allowed for broadcasts from the numerous rallies and events.
- A full photographic laboratory on board kept up with pictures of the many visits and guests that would be entertained.
- The Maxim Gorky was equipped with steps that would fold in on themselves and become part of the aircraft. It may sound like a small achievement today, but it was the first aircraft in the world to incorporate this feature. The steps further allowed the plane to visit remote areas which may well not be equipped for large aircraft visit.
- The ANT-20 was designed to be dismantled, stored or transported by train to other locations (an odd method of transport for a vehicle designed to fly to remote areas itself!).
- The interior of the ANT-20 resembled an ocean liner more than an aeroplane, with a bar, tables for dining and separate booths for people to converse privately.
- For added comfort, the plane also had a laundry and a pharmacy.
Aside from all these extras, the original plans for the Maxim Gorki had specified that the aeroplane would incorporate a projector to beam revolutionary messages onto the clouds and an illuminated, changing, 18-character message beneath the wings (a predecessor to twitter perhaps?) Unfortunately, given the state of 1930s technology, these additions were never realised.
The Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky was indeed one of a kind… until version 2, which we will get to.
The Fate of the Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky:
Unfortunately, this cruise ship of the sky was not too last; on May 18th 1935, she was making a flight over Moscow carrying family members of some of the aircraft’s builders. The plane was part of a larger air show and, to highlight the scale of the Maxim Gorky, two Polikarpov I-5 fighters were flying each side of her.
One of the I-5 fighters piloted by N.P.Blagin attempted a barrel roll around the larger craft. As he did so, he crashed into the wing of the Maxim Gorky, causing the two planes to plummet to the ground. The aircraft crashed into the Moscow suburb of Sokol, a total of 50 people were killed, including the pilot of the I-5, 11 crew, passengers of the Maxim Gorky and four people on the ground.
The pilot of the I-5 was blamed and, amongst various accusations, accused of air hooliganism and working for foreign powers.
Tupolev ANT-20 Reborn
Some may think that the tragic accident of the Maxim Gorky would be the end of this lady of the sky; however, she was to see one more reincarnation as the ANT-20bis.
In the months after the crash of the Maxim Gorky, it was decided that the Tupolev ANT-20 should be resurrected, and after a redesign, a new model was constructed. The new palace of the sky only required six engines’ as they were a more powerful variant of the original engines. The Tupolev ANT-20bis first saw service in 1938, after which it was used to fly the skies over central Asia.
The Fate of the Tupolev ANT-20bis
On December 14th, 1942, the Tupolev ANT-20bis flew a route from Chardzhou in Turkmenistan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Two hours into the flight and the captain left his seat to allow a passenger to experience the thrill of piloting this mighty beast.
It is understood that the passenger unknowingly disengaged the autopilot (the first full autopilot fitted to an aircraft). The Tupolev ANT-20bis then ploughed 500 m (1,500 ft) downwards, striking the ground in a nosedive killing all 36 onboard.
Conclusion
The Tupolev ANT-20 was not to rise again; plans to build a fleet of these flying palaces were abandoned. Although both accidents were related to pilot error, 1939 saw the Stalinist purges leave Russia with a shortage of qualified engineers.
The brainchild of the project, Mikhail Koltsov, was arrested and shot on February 2nd, 1940, for “participation in a conspiracy against the Communist Party and Soviet power.” As for the designer of the Tupolev ANT-20, Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev, he was arrested on October 21st 1937, for crimes against the state.
As war with Germany approached, Tupolev was eventually allowed his freedom, although not fully rehabilitated. Tupolev would design over 100 aeroplanes, break 78 world aviation records and become known as the Soviet Union’s most famed aeronautical engineer.
Nikolai Pavlovic Blagin: The Man Who Brought Down the Maxim Gorky:
Nikolai died in the crash caused by his aerial manoeuvres. Afterwards, he was branded an air hooligan, reckless and irresponsible; a letter was brought forward in which Nikolai Pavlovic Blagin claimed that he had purposely crashed the plane to aid a foreign power.
Nikolai still received a state burial and his family a pension. From declassified reports years later, it was discovered that an NKVD investigation found that before the flight, two film studio representatives, V. Ryazhsky and A. Pullin, had insisted that Nikolai should perform some impressive stunts to improve their cinematic footage.
Both were prosecuted.
In the area where the Maxim Gorky crashed is a monument honouring those who passed away in the crash.
What happened to the Maxim Gorky Agit-Squadron?
During the 1930s, the Maxim Gorky Agit-Squadron covered a total distance of over 55 million kilometres, criss-crossing the enormous Soviet Union; the squadron organised over 3,000 rallies, 5,000 talks and numerous lectures relaying the propaganda message to 10 million people. The days of the unit were numbered as Germany invaded Russia, pilots and planes were needed to hold the Nazi threat at bay. After the war, modern technology had advanced, radio and television broadcasts filled the airwaves, and the squadron became a distant memory.